Book description
The magisterial official life of Britain's complex and misunderstood
former prime minister, which offers a fundamental reassessment of his reputation.
Edward Heath was at the centre of British political life for much of
the second half of the twentieth century. Entering the House of Commons
in 1950, he served as a whip and a minister before becoming Leader of
the Conservative Party and Prime Minister from 1970 to 1974. But today
he is largely a forgotten figure, eclipsed by his more celebrated
successor, Margaret Thatcher.
In this masterly official biography, distinguished historian Philip
Ziegler offers a timely reassessment of Heath's remarkable political
career. With exclusive access to personal papers unavailable to previous
biographers he presents the first fully rounded portrait of our most
enigmatic former prime minister.
Beginning with Heath's early years - his childhood in Kent, student
days in pre-war Oxford, wartime military service and short business
career before he immersed himself in politics - Ziegler goes on to chart
Heath's effortless rise through the ranks of the Conservative Party. He
brilliantly captures Heath's rivalry with Harold Wilson and the supreme
drama of 1974 - the year of two elections and a hung parliament - with
its uncanny parallels for our own times.
Politics consumed Heath's life but he nonetheless found time for other
pursuits, becoming an accomplished conductor and an internationally
successful yachtsman. The book explores Heath's endlessly fascinating
personality and casts fresh light on the financial affairs and private
life of this most complex of political leaders.
Heath's later years were blighted by the 'long sulk', as he failed to
come to terms with losing the leadership to Margaret Thatcher. But this
should not disguise his considerable achievements. He helped to
transform the Conservative Party, and by securing Britain's historic
entry into Europe, the high point of his career, he arguably changed the
lives of the British people more fundamentally than any prime minister
since Winston Churchill Philip Ziegler was born in 1929 and educated
at Eton and New College, Oxford, where he gained first class honours in
Jurisprudence. He then joined the Diplomatic Service and served in
Vientiane, Paris, Pretoria and Bogota before joining the publishers
William Collins, where he was editorial director for fifteen years. His
many books include biographies of William IV, Lady Diana Cooper, Louis
Mountbatten and Harold Wilson, as well as the classic history of the
Black Death.
